2021-10-11: 2022 St John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival Topics
Dear St. Nicholas Church School Families (6th to 12th Grades),
Great news! Our 2022 St. Nicholas Parish St John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival will be held in-person on Sunday, March 20, 2022.
The topics for the 2022 St John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival are listed below.
For more details about the 2022 St John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival, please visit:
Please discuss the following topics with your 6th to 12th Grade Church School students and help them choose a topic. It is an important and meaningful experience for the entire family.
As in previous years, Fr. Nick will review all Oratorical Festival work and provide valuable feedback to all students.
2022 St. John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival Topics
Junior Division (Grades (6)-7-9)
Share what you learned about yourself after a “technology fast” of at least 21 days. What can we learn about our relationship to God and the world by fasting?
In our personal prayer and liturgy, we usually make requests of God. Discuss why we make these petitions and how God fulfills them.
Choose a saint whose life has been important to you or your family. Discuss what you find most inspiring about this saint and what others can learn from how they lived their life.
Discuss how you would share your Orthodox Christian faith with a visitor to your parish.
Discuss your favorite Church service of the year and why it is meaningful to you.
Senior Division (Grades 10-12)
Discuss the significance of Orthodox iconography (historically, symbolically and/or artistically) and how icons enhance our worship.
From the earliest days, Christian worship has been community-based, not only solitary, and Christians formed communities where the members learned from and took care of one another. Why is it important to be part of a Church community, and how is this relevant today?
The Orthodox faithful pray to the saints for physical healing and we have examples of saints like Cosmas and Damian who were doctors. What does this teach us about the Orthodox perspective on faith, health, and medicine?
Discuss ways that a young person can respond to God’s call to love God with heart, soul, mind, and strength and one’s neighbor as oneself (see Luke 10:27).
In every Church service, we pray for “peace in the world,” usually many times. Yet, war and violence persist. What is the Orthodox Christian approach to war and violence?
Oratorical Festival Resources
Our Church School Library is housed in the alcove outside the Greek School classroom and includes many books and media that were specially selected to help our students write their speeches for each year's St. John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival. Check it out!
A list of all available material in the Church School Library is available at our website:
http://churchschool.stnickaa.org/oratorical/library
The Church School Library catalog, including images and descriptions, is available here:
https://www.librarything.com/catalog/churchschool
Thank you.
Yours in Christ,
Fr. Vasilios D. Pliakas
Photios G. Ioannou
Church School Directors
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church
Ann Arbor, Michigan
email: churchschoolaa@gmail.com